Naomi Osaka has experienced a lot of success at the Australian Open throughout her career. The 28-year-old has won the event twice, most recently in 2021. Osaka has not won a major since then, but she usually performs well in this event.
So it’s no surprise that Osaka won Tuesday’s first round match. Osaka sent Antonio Ruzic and won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The win advances Osaka to the second round, where she will face Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.
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Although Osaka dropped a set on Tuesday, she was strong overall during the match. Osaka had 11 aces against Cirstea and won 72 percent of her first serves. Her serve was nearly 30km/h faster than Cirstea, posing a big problem for her Croatian opponent.
While Osaka’s play deserves praise, it was probably her outfit that drew more attention after the game. Asked about her costume choice, Osaka said she modeled it after a jellyfish.
Osaka reached the third round at the Australian Open last year and will aim to reach that stage again if she can beat Cirstea on Thursday.
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Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner advance to next round
It took Taylor Fritz a little while to get back on track, but the American won in the first round of the Australian Open. After going into a tiebreak in the first set and losing the second set, Fritz rallied to win the next two sets and beat Valentin Royer 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Fritz, who entered the tournament ranked ninth, had 24 service aces in the victory. If he wins, he will face Vito Kopzyva on Thursday.
Fritz has enjoyed success at the Australian Open in recent years, reaching at least the third round in six of the past seven years.
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While things looked dangerous for Fritz at one point, Jannik Sinner had no such problems. The Italian won in just two sets (6-2, 6-1) against his first-round opponent Hugo Gastón after Gastón was forced to retire after the second set. Gaston, who had returned from an Achilles tendon injury in November, became emotional on court following the decision to cancel the game.
Sinner had kind words for his opponent before leaving the court.
The victorious Sinner will face James Duckworth on Thursday.
